How to bet the 2024 Santa Ana Stakes

A total of eight fillies and mares will run 1 1/4 miles on the turf in Saturday’s $100,000 Santa Ana S. (G3) at Santa Anita Park. Conditioner Phil D’Amato has an imposing trio of contenders in the field, but I will go elsewhere with my top selection. 

Santa Ana Wagers

• $20 win and place #6 Linda’s Gift ($40)
• $10 exacta 6 with 1,7 ($20)

Richard Mandella’s #6 Linda’s Gift has shown new life since stretching out in distance in her last pair of races and I will side with the streaking daughter of Arrogate in this one. The Bluegrass State bred led throughout in a measured tally in the Red Carpet (G3) at Del Mar two back to register her initial graded stakes win, and the five-year-old returned in a never-threatened performance en route to a decisive win in the Astra S. on the course at 1 1/2 miles. 

Linda’s Gift cuts back to 10 furlongs for this endeavor, but she is razor sharp currently and I don’t envision the distance change to be much of an issue for her. The mare is relatively lightly raced with more room for improvement, and she will once again be the one to catch on Saturday with Tiago Pereira retaining the ride. 

Of the D’Amato threesome in the cast, I will give a slight edge to #1 Queens Command in her second start on U. S. soil. By War Command, the mare gave a nice impression of herself with a smart allowance win on the oval while traveling one mile, and she has a whole lot of room to move forward against this cast. The Irish bred will be making just her second appearance since October of 2022, and while the class rise is a major one, I still have confidence that she will run well while saving ground throughout. Antonio Fresu picks up the mount aboard the five-year-old bay. 

#7 Duvet Day finished third in the race in 2023 and looks like a very logical top-three threat in the cast for conditioner Mike McCarthy. The Starspangledbanner five-year-old has class to her, and although this distance might be less than ideal for her, she is still good enough to be a major player with her best effort. The Irish-bred bay has won or placed in six of her nine lifetime runs on the course and will make one run from off the pace with Kazushi Kimura in the silks.